GLOBAL – September 23, 2013 – Responding to the new ways consumers watch TV, Nielsen plans to bring digital and television measurement together by 2014.
In the fall of 2014, Nielsen will add information from mobile device viewing to TV ratings, addressing criticism that the company has been slow to adapt to new technology. The expanded reach includes viewing on tablets and smartphones, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Nielsen was set to unveil its solution during Advertising Week, in a seminar on the evolution of ratings on September 23. "Viewers’ habits are pushing both the buy and sell side of the advertising business to innovate as quickly as they can. The key is stable, streamlined and integrated planning and audience measurement," read the description of Nielsen’s event.
“Networks are starving for a number they can publish that really represents their audience not just on TV but across all platforms,” Eric Solomon, Nielsen’s senior VP of global audience measurement told Variety.
According to Variety’s digital editor Todd Spangler, "The new Nielsen capability means live television streamed through such apps as ABC’s WatchABC, as well as on iPad video apps from cable operators, can now be counted toward the total numbers on which programmers get paid by TV advertisers."
Only mobile apps that include a special code can be counted toward Nielsen’s TV ratings, Spangler said.
Brian Stelter noted on The New York Times that Nielsen’s decision to reveal the timeline one year early may be an attempt to calm the nerves of clients, who have been appealing to the company for a more complete accounting of viewership. "Networks have been pressuring Nielsen to include those people in the ratings reports that calibrate advertising rates and influence the perceptions of success and failure," Stelter said.
